Full Moon in Cancer December 2015 – Nurturing Peace

The Moon is at home in her own sign of Cancer so the traits of this sign and the Moon herself are strongly emphasised at this festive lunation. The Moon is our emotions, our feeling nature. She represents the inner child, our long history of emotional experiences, our habits, our gut instincts. She shows how we need to be nurtured and our nurturing style. The Moon is what we need and in Cancer, we need to be held and comforted.

This is the sign naturally associated with family and the archetype of Mother so at this time of year when family gatherings are uppermost in many people’s minds, this energy fits very well. Feelings are heightened, our sensitive side is showing. This is perfect for spending time with those we love but with the Moon opposite the Sun in Capricorn and bearing in mind Full Moons can be about crisis just as much as culmination, there is a suggestion that any fractures in family relations could be emphasised by this overly emotional Moon.

The Moon is trine to Neptune. It’s true that there is a lovely flow of feeling here. It’s generous, it’s compassionate, it’s overflowing, unconditional love. We may feel more than ready to give of ourselves as much as we give material things. It makes for long conversations into the night whilst tired kids, up since the crack of dawn, finally sleep. It’s perfect for listening to the stories of your parents, grandparents and others of Christmas past and bitter-sweet memories.

But for those of us without family, for those who are alone without choice, it will be important to monitor the flood of feeling that can arise at this time of year under this highly emotional Moon. Surrounded by glistening images of perfect family Christmases and besieged by romantic movies, it can be hard, Capricorn hard, to feel left out in the cold.

As a Pagan, my main spiritual celebration centres around Yule but I like the festival of Christmas and of course as a child, I loved it. I do get that magical sense with the twinkling lights. I love to give presents. I do like to sing Christmas carols, even though they come from a different religious tradition. And I still have that wish that one day I will have my own Christmas – with my own partner, their family and so on. Being alone never bothers me until it gets to this time of year.

The first Christmas I spent alone was when I still had my dog and cat so strangely, I didn’t feel alone – pet lovers will understand 🙂 . I made them special Christmas treats and we sat by the tree and ate dinner together. The second time I was truly alone and I cried the entire day. I couldn’t even bring myself to put up a single decoration. I never felt so utterly bereft and unwanted as I did that day. I still find Christmas hard but this year will be better as I am spending time with friends I love and thoroughly looking forward to some quality time. The aspects of this Full Moon are tugging at our heart strings and poignant moments are inevitable. If you’re alone, don’t do what I did – let that love flow back to yourself. If the holiday means something to you, give yourself Christmas – or give Christmas to someone else, Neptune loves charitable work.

Full Moon in Cancer December 2015 – Chart

click to enlarge

With Cancer ruling nourishment and an enchanting but slippery slope trine to Neptune, it’s likely that we may find ourselves over-indulging which tends to be another tradition at this time of year. Plus Neptune is only too happy to get the wine/brandy/snowballs flowing. But as I mentioned above, fragile family relations could begin to crumble if tongues are loosened. Clashes between the young (Cancer) and the old (Capricorn) are possible, as are divides over the responsibilities we have and who spends time with whom. Neptune gives us a vision of that perfect moment, the kind that has soft focus, seasonal music playing in the background, a crackling fire and sickly sweet smiles all round. If your picture doesn’t match up, it could be tears before bedtime. This is a needy Moon.

The Sabian symbol of the Full Moon is :-

A Cat Arguing With A Mouse

In nature a cat and a mouse have specific roles. One is hunter, the other is prey yet in this symbol, these roles are being questioned. I cannot read this symbol without thinking of Tom and Jerry cartoons where Jerry endlessly outwits poor Tom.

There is the potential to bicker. Trying to switch established roles and rules within your family or friendship groups may end up more trouble than it’s worth. Whilst power dynamics are often a big issue in families that need to be addressed at some point, this may not be the time to do it. Mercury is square Mars in the Full Moon chart so conflicts are ill-advised, especially those that simply try to make a point.

But there’s no need to sink into a sozzled mess in the corner because this Moon does have much about it that is conducive to warm celebrations. It’s about accepting the roles as they are – even just for one day. It’s about showing unconditional love, even if your sister/friend/lover/in-law or child is driving you around the bend. It’s about remembering that we are all different (Uranus is about to station direct on Boxing day) and to keep communications positive with a Mercury trine to Jupiter perfecting just after Full Moon. It’s a time to forgive and forget, live and let live and nurture peace. Raise a glass with Neptune. Hug your loved ones or send out love to the universe. Call time out to Tom and Jerry and have a very happy Christmas!

the first xmas i spent alone i cried. its a powerful feeling i remember coming down the stairs in my place in tears. i have been alone on other xmas since but the first one was hard. but it also strengthened me to be more aware of what xmas means to me. i dont mind my xmas with the cat. its peaceful( and hot) but im ready to bake feasts- when my life blooms again with many loved ones!

I can so relate to what you write here. I’ve been feeling a bit adrift, without a family of my own, after losing my mother this past year, and living far from my brother and sister, the remnants of my nuclear family. I also still feel the loss of two strays who were my family for a blessed and oblivious time. Feeling like I missed the maternal boat while questing after things of spiritual, aesthetic or philosophical import, that suddenly seem to pale in value to the blessings that come so naturally to most people. My neighbors all have large extended families, are from different cultural backgrounds, and while I share and am welcome in their celebrations, I am myself somewhat out of place. My closest relationships are with people more like myself, yet we don’t form a very cohesive group, and are quite scattered… Lately I have been feeling that I need to make a big change in the direction of finding/making a home of my own, where I can perhaps be maternal in non-traditional ways, without the advantage of traditional support systems. The closest thing I have to a child is a young dog who has turned out to be as high strung and sensitive as I am. I’ve also been thinking about love and healing relationships as Christmas approaches, as I try to piece together a sacred season of connection to others, even though I feel alone in a way that has surprised me. You have very insightfully identified the challenges I seem to be facing at this time “… for those of us without family, for those who are alone without choice, it will be important to monitor the flood of feeling that can arise at this time of year under this highly emotional Moon. Surrounded by glistening images of perfect family Christmases and besieged by romantic movies, it can be hard, Capricorn hard, to feel left out in the cold.” Thank you for speaking to my heart on these matters. My sun sign is in Cancer, but in the tenth house – ruled by Capricorn, I think… other than that, I don’t believe there’s a trace of earth in my chart. Thank you for your reflections. Wishing you a beautiful full moon, and a “merry little Christmas.” The song by that name happens to be playing in the background just now.

Thank you, Leah, for seeing to the heart of the matter. I hope so too. Thank you also for the very nurturing environment you create here, of words, symbols, images and meaningful inter-connections. Luminous and festive blessings to you too.

Merry Christmas Leah. Thanks for writing something for all of us who are not blessed with families and friends to share the day with at Christmas. It can be very hard. I have Capricorn in the 8th house and this article gave me a new insight about that. My husband and I have five grown kids between us and six grandchildren. They all cruelly ignore us at the holidays. After 12 years we have learned to accept it. We will spend this weekend at a retreat at a yoga center. There I have found my “tribe” at last & my husband is flexible enuf to be happy just about anywhere (a Sag). Everything has two sides… I often remind myself of all the family strife we DON’T have to go though and the deep peace we can experience instead. I also remind myself that many many people struggle with loneliness this time of year. Norma Rockwell holidays are just still-life pictures. Illusions. We all need to find the spirit of Christmas in our hearts.

Thank you Karen – I’m sorry to hear your family don’t come to see you over the holidays but glad you and your husband have found an alternative way of spending Christmas. A yoga retreat sounds lovely. Merry Christmas to you both x

Hi KT – Thanks for your comment. As Capricorn is ruled by Saturn, it tends to have ‘hard connotations’. For example some keywords are – authority, structure definition, mountains, buildings, foundations, dryness. Moon ruled Cancer however (the opposite sign of Capricorn) is about nurturing, warmth, mother, home, sensitivity and so on. It doesn’t make Cancer ‘better’ than Capricorn as we need all those wonderful strengthening aspects of Capricorn to function but yes, the shadow side of Capricorn is a tendency to be very hard on oneself.

It has certainly been a challenging holiday in terms of family. I will say that I’m upset by the inclusion of the adage “forgive and forget”, particularly when family history includes emotional and/or physical abuse (as it does with me). Unfortunately, even with best intentions and effort, we can’t make others choose peace. And while forgiveness is important, forgetting can be harmful. We don’t learn from what we choose to forget.

Hi ME Wolf – I’m sorry you were upset by the ‘forgive and forget’. It was written in the spirit of peace. Coming from an abusive family background myself, I can empathise with your response. We certainly can’t make others choose peace, we can only choose peace within ourselves. I understand what you mean regarding ‘forgetting’, perhaps a better word would have been detaching but as that is more of a Uranus word, I chose ‘forget’ to align with the Neptunian vibration. Blessings.